Fallen Angel
by teeroy766
Summary: Shadow was not happy. The ARK was being destroyed for the safety of Mobius. But will things go as planned? Of course not. The question remains, will Shadow be able to fight this new threat, or will he allow it to consume Mobius?


** Chapter 1: The ARK awakes.**

Shadow the hedgehog was not an emotional person; it took a lot to just get a reaction out of him, and when you did it was probably pure rage. Such was the case this morning at the GUN base.

"What do you mean "They're going to destroy the ARK today"?" Shadow yelled at his partner. Rouge, who was used to these kinds of outbursts, just waited for him to calm down enough to actually hear her response. "If you will wait until after I finish to start murdering people, I'll explain." The spy calmly rebuked the angered hedgehog. Shadow growled, but made no other attempt to argue. "Good boy. Now, the Commander has been in communication with the council of Acorn and has decided it in everyone's best interest to remove the ARK from orbit, and more importantly, destroy the Eclipse Cannon." Rouge calmly explained. Shadow didn't offer any more comments and waited for her to finish. "Now, they can't exactly let it fall back to Mobius, we all know what would happen if it did that. So the decision has been made to fire Non-Nuclear ICBMs at it and let the scrap left over burn up in the atmosphere." She finished.

Shadow, still not fully appeased, sighed. "That explanation came straight from Hope didn't it?" He asked with a sad smirk on his face. Rouge smiled at the slight joking in his voice. "Yes, it did. Come on, we are supposed to be present at the command center for the event." Rouge motioned for her partner to follow her and the made their way through the base.

**ARK, Main Control Room. **(Note: Not on earth, actually on the ARK.)

The doors to the control room opened with a hiss and permitted the figure to enter. Alarms around the station were blaring and the lighting had taken on a red tint. "TAPS, what are the alarms for?" The figure asked, irritated at the commotion. "Hello Commander, sorry for the interruption, but the ARK appears to be targeted by multiple ICBMs. GUN appears to be trying to destroy the station." The computer responded. "Really? Have we been discovered?" They asked with concern in their voice. "Negative, intercepted internal communication show that GUN has decided that the ARK needs to be removed so as to keep the Eclipse Cannon out of the wrong hands. Missile ETA is twenty minutes."

The figure grinned. "Well, it's a little early, but we have built up enough resources to move ahead. TAPS, once the missiles get within strike distance, bring all systems out of stealth mode, and bring shields and defenses up to full power. I'll go prepare the rest of the surprise." The computer acknowledged the orders with a beep and began working on its orders. As the figure walked out of the control room, they heard the computer respond. "All systems are ready, the ARK will awake at your command, Commander Robotnik." The figure stopped. "I keep telling you TAPS, call me Maria, I will not be associated with my imbecile cousin." She said, and then strode out of the room.

**GUN HQ, Command Center.**

Shadow was not happy; Rouge was well aware of that, but he didn't have to give every person in the command center a death glare if they so much as look at him. "Shadow, be nice. They're just doing their jobs." She rebuked the cranky hedgehog. Shadow merely replied with a growl, but he did stop. Rouge sighed and counted her lucky stars that Shadow appeared to be too shocked to respond with his normal death stare or a smart remark.

They stood in silence for a few minutes until a voice could be heard over the normal buzz of the command center. "Missile impact in five minutes." The radar tech called out. Everyone in the command center moved their attention to the main screen where a satellite was streaming a view of the ARK and the missiles approaching it. "Did you have anything left on the ARK? Rouge asked out of curiosity as the rest of their friends joined them. Shadow sighed and responded. "Only painful memories and a handful of good ones." Hope placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"Missile impact in thirty seconds!" The technician called out. The friends turned their attention to the screen. "Fifteen seconds!" Shadow clenched his fists as the missile neared what used to be his home and waited for the end. "Ten seconds!" Everyone held a collective breath. "Five, four, three, two." As the technician counted down to one, there was a bright flash as the missiles made impact. The explosion filled the screen and was brighter than the sun. A collective cheer rang out through the command center as the threat of a planet-cracking laser was removed. Even Shadow gave a sigh if relief as if a weight had been lifted and he finally had closure. The explosions began to die down, and there was another collective gasp as a very intact silhouette loomed through the debris cloud. The technician audibly gulped and read the report from his screen. "Missile strike failed. Sensors report that the ARK is intact. Energy shield and defensive systems confirmed."

The room was silent for a full ten seconds. Then the room exploded with action as every technician and commander attempted to make heads or tails out of the situation. The commotion was cut short when a communications officer shouted over the din to the Commander. "Incoming communication from the ARK!" The room fell silent and the Commander stood from his command chair. "On screen." HE ordered. The screen was covered in static for a few seconds as the signal began to come in. Soon, the static was replaced by a view of the main control room on the ARK and a figure in a general's uniform. She person was human, almost. The first thing they noticed about her was the ears that were obviously not human sticking out of her hair. The second thing was her blonde her and blue eyes. She sported a short haircut that had her hair only going down to her shoulders at the most, and her eyes appeared to search into your very soul. (You may laugh at the cliché, but there really are people that their eyes do that, it is the creepiest thing every.)

Shadow was in shock, he new that face. It had to be her, she was older, and had undergone changes, but it had to be her. He stopped thinking entirely as she began to speak. "Commander Abraham, it's good to see you again. How are you doing?" She asked in a sweet voice with a barely perceptible hint of sarcasm. The Commander looked on in confusion. "Do I know you?" He asked, his confusion clearly evident in his voice. Her smile intensified and she gave a fake look of hurt. "Why commander, I'm surprised you don't remember. Well, not that much. As I understand it, as far as GUN is concerned, I don't exist." She said with bitterness clearly evident in her voice. The commander blinked, trying his hardest to remember her from somewhere.

She sighed and continued. "Since you all appear to be at a loss, allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Maria Robotnik, Commanding officer of the Mobius Purification Force." She said with menace clearly evident in her voice. "And I believe you just attempted to launch a full missile assault on our base of operations, which, as you may know, could be seen as an act of war. I hereby inform you that your actions today will be seen as such and that we will not stop until the evil that is GUN and its allies have been wiped off the planet." She told the commander in an even and diplomatic tone that almost took the dread out of the words, almost. She gave a mock salute and the screen returned to static.

Shadow stood in complete and utter shock. His friends had all turned to him to see if he had any answers but the answer was obvious. They were broken out of their stupor by the voice of the radar technician. "Multiple contacts exiting the ARK and heading towards the surface. Transports supplemented by airships. Airship strength that of Eggfleet cruisers or better. They appear to be headed to the desert, sandblast city to be exact." The command center bursts into action again as orders flew from one end to the other as they tried to get a handle on the situation. All the while Shadow stood in the center of it all, unable to move, or even think straight.

"Maria, what has become of you?" Was all that he could think as his world began to fall apart once again.

* * *

Author's Note: I have had this story in my head for awhile now. One thing, I know this is WAY out of character for Maria, but I have an explanation for her apparent craziness, but that will come later. That is all

Thanks for reading!


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